Thursday, October 13, 2011

Hippies on Wall Street. Why Not??

There is a recent suggestion that the "Occupation" of Wall Street has become a "hippie haven". I actually see people of all ages and from all walks of life, but if you want to discredit the movement, dismiss them with a seemingly negative connotation.

However, would it be so bad if the demonstrations took on a 60s flair?

The Religious Right want to take us back to the Reformation. The Neocons to the 1950s, before the Civil Rights movement.

The Hippie generation created a lot of positive change, and maybe we need that kind of spirit again. No Joan Baez yet, but Rage Against the Machine, Kanye West and rapper Talib Kweli have entertained the crowd.

They also have the support of Susan Sarandon, Mark Ruffalo and of course, the wonderful Michael Moore.

More inspiring, however, was the appearance of a group called The Protest Chaplains, who travelled from Boston with their signs: "Blessed are the poor" . What a wonderful contrast to the Tea Party who imply that God thinks the poor are just lazy.

If social media is any indicator the protests appear to be gaining traction.